“Of sorts,” he said. He glanced over his shoulder at the door, then returned his gaze to her. “Why were you running from the Pantera? Did someone threaten you?”
He seemed genuinely concerned, but Kat knew how men were. How they acted when they wanted something from you, and how they acted afterwards when they got it.
“This is all a mistake,” she said, trying to sit up. “I don’t know where you’ve put me or why, but I need to go home.”
“And where is that?”
She hesitated for a moment, then spat out the truth, “New Orleans.”
As the man came to sit on the bed near her waist, Kat drew back against the pillows. She felt breathless and warm, but not from her fear and anxiety. Up close, he was even better looking. He seemed to ooze strength and raw maleness, and she felt her curiosity flare. This was the real deal, and the Pantera males she’d written about—the fiction she’d invented—seemed positively puny in comparison.
“Listen,” he began, his voice soft but threaded with warning. “Very soon we’re going to have people in here asking you a lot of questions. Before they do, do you want to tell me anything? Who you are? Why you were running last night from—”
“The Pantera?” Kat said quickly and without thinking.
The man’s eyes shuttered, and he growled softly. “You know about us?”
Pressed back against the pillows, Kat stared at him, her breathing shallow. This was bad. How could she be so stupid as to show her hand when she might’ve gotten out of here? This man—it was him—he unnerved her, made her drop her guard. Even back at The Cougar’s Den she’d felt that from him.
“Shit…” The man sighed. “So what they said is true. You wrote a story about us for an online magazine?
She didn’t answer. “You can’t hold me here.”
“Can’t we? After all you said about us in that article? Calling us monsters who eat children?” He chuckled darkly. “Saying that we are not magical beings at all, but a cult of sociopaths?”
Panic flooded Kat’s body, and she glanced around the room. There had to be a way out of here. A way to escape.
“What do you say to this, Katherine Burke?”
Her eyes darted back to him. One brow lifted, his gorgeous face tight with tension.
“Yes. I know your name.” He leaned toward her. “How are you going to fix this? These lies you told? These families you’ve put in danger?”
Kat’s eyes widened and her heart stalled. “Danger? What are you talking about?”
“Ah,” came a female voice from the doorway. “The guards told us she was awake.”
Both Kat and the male turned to see three people walk into the room. They were tall and fierce, even the one female, and dressed very causally in faded jeans and tank tops. The lean muscles on each made Kat’s breath catch.
“What do you want from me?” Kat said slowly, fearfully.
The female spoke first. “Besides telling the entire world you lied about us? Immediately and on camera?”
Kat shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“Why the hell not?” the woman growled, moving toward her.
But the man who sat on Kat’s bed was already on his feet and standing in the woman’s way. “Calm down, Keira.”
“Fuck you, Aristide,” she said. “We need answers.”
“Why did you spread those lies, Miss Burke?” asked one of the men behind Keira. He had gold eyes, long black hair and scars near his right ear and mouth.
Keira shook her head. “It was just a satire piece. Like The Onion.”
No matter how scared she was, or how much she hated herself for the article she was forced to write, she couldn’t tell them the truth. Not if she wanted to see Noah again.
“And yet you won’t tell the world that,” Keira spat back.
Kat remained tight-lipped. She had to find a way out of here. But if she truly was in the Wildlands, how would escape even be possible? She had no idea where she was, or how far it was to the outside world.
“Who are you working for, Miss Burke?” the golden-eyed man asked, his calm demeanor unnerving her. “Because even though you have no tattoo, no Mark of Shakpi on your body, we know you must be working for our enemies. The ones who are desperate to tell the human world to be afraid of us, to attack us.”
Oh, god. Was that true? Was that why Marco had forced her to do this? Was the man called Aristide right? Would she truly be hurting families? And what was the Mark of Shakpi?
“I work for the Jefferson Post,” she said, shaking her head against the desire to tell the whole truth, and the fear of what would happen if she did. “I’m one of their staff writers, and I wrote a satire piece. That’s all. That’s it.”
“Bullshit,” Keira said, flipping her off.
“Hey,” the man called Aristide growled beside her. “Rein in your sister, Parish. She’s about to get her ass kicked out of here.”
Parish sniffed. “Good luck with that, brother.”
“Fuck you, Aristide,” the woman returned, her own set of gold eyes flashing. “You can’t do that.”
“You’re in my jurisdiction now, Keira.”
Her eyes narrowed and she cocked her head, studying him. “You obviously have a hard-on for this human, but it isn’t going to get in the way of our investigation.”
Kat’s eyes lifted to Aristide. He stood beside her bed, his expression hard, resolute, his body language screaming defensiveness. What was Keira talking about? A hard-on for her? Was this man interested in her? And why did that idea make her entire body hum?
“Okay, let’s take a breath everyone,” Parish said, though his face and expression were tight with tension as he turned his gaze on Kat. “Will you or will you not recant your story publically, Miss Burke?”
“I will not,” she said softly. I can’t.
“Then you will stay in the Wildlands until we have answers to our questions.”
Ice raced into her veins and her breath caught in her throat. “You have your answers.”
He shook his head. “We want the truth. Names. Locations. The plan.”
“There is no plan!” Kat burst out, sitting up completely now, ignoring the slight pain in her head. “I don’t know about any plan!”
“Okay,” Aristide growled, placing his hand on her shoulder. “That’s enough.”
“You know something,” Keira hissed, coming to the edge of the bed.
Aristide growled at her. “She needs to rest, Hunter.”
Hunter? Confusion mingled with the fear, and the shame inside Kat.
“You said she was fine, Ari,” Parish said tightly, his golden eyes narrowed.
“Nothing serious, nothing’s broken. But she’s had a shock. Give her some time.”
“We don’t have much of that, and you know it,” Parish said darkly.
The room seemed to grow cold as everyone in it fell silent. Kat looked from face to face. Worry and hope etched each taut expression. What was happening? What had that bastard Marco gotten her into?
Checking his phone, the man behind Parish, who had been quiet up until that point, spoke in a harsh whisper. “We have a possible breach at the south border.”
Parish cursed. “How many?”
“Seems to be a single.” He shrugged. “Could be another lost traveler.”
“Or it could be because of her.” Keira glared at Kat, pushing away from the end of the bed.
“Out,” Aristide growled.
“Fine,” Keira muttered. “But we’ll be back.”
As all three of them filed out of the room, Kat released the breath she’d been holding since they walked in, and dropped back against the pillows. She was so lost. Deeply in trouble. How in the world was she going to get out of this unscathed?
She turned to Aristide, to the one person who had championed her, and offered a very sincere, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” he answered, his eyes still pinned to the door. “Thank my puma. I believe he’s the one who can’t resist
protecting you.”
“Your puma?” she repeated, confused.
He didn’t elaborate further. “Rest, female. You’re going to need it.” He headed for the door, adding, “And don’t try to escape. There are guards at every exit.”
Kat opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Only a puff of air. In the doorway, the man called Aristide had completely disappeared, and in his place stood the most beautiful and terrifying cat Katherine had ever seen. It was large and had sandy brown just like…
Oh, god. She’d known…she’d known this. Maybe not exactly believed it, but she’d known that the Pantera were shape shifters. But to see it…actually witness the transformation…have it confirmed.
She covered her mouth and watched as he stalked out the door, his massive head held high and proud, his thick tail twitching.
***
Hiss cased the perimeter of the small house on Geradon Street, wishing he was about five miles west, inside the borders of the Wildlands, and able to access his puma. He never felt as powerful without it. But this was where he needed to be, and this was how Parish, Raphael and the elders wanted it. Shakpi and her accomplice locked up nice and tight where her disciples couldn’t find her. And even though the goddess was unconscious, the Pantera didn’t trust that her devastating magic couldn’t unfold at any second.
“You two stay here,” Hiss commanded the two Pantera guards who were stationed at the back of the house. “Rage and Elise, you take the front. One at the door, one patrolling. And try to be inconspicuous.”
“And inside the house?” Elise asked him.
Hiss raised one eyebrow at the pale blond Hunter. “I’ll be guarding the prisoners myself.”
The female nodded and took off with her partner. With Hiss, there was no questioning, no suspicion. He was trusted and respected by all.
So foolish. So goddamn foolish. To trust him or any Pantera. Because, truly, they were all capable of treachery.
Hiss entered the small, one bedroom home and headed for the door to the basement. The Pantera had made a practice of this, buying land, houses, all over the United States to use for their particular purposes. Hiding, escape, holding prisoners. This property was a brand new acquisition. To keep the Pantera’s enemies close—but not too close.
Hiss descended the short flight of stairs, lit only by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. The cold space was sparse, dank, and housed two side-by-side cages. Both of which were occupied.
Hiss’s gaze moved over the human male, Chayton, who had been taken over by Shakpi several weeks ago. The male was still unconscious after his recent attempts to flush the goddess from his body, but Hiss knew that the powerful spirit still dwelled within him, hovering just beneath the surface of the male’s aging skin, waiting for its chance. It would be Hiss’s job to assist in her awakening. Just as soon as they had the blood of the child.
“Do your kind know you’re a traitor yet?”
Hiss turned sharply at the interruption to his thoughts, his eyes narrowing on the woman in the other cell. “The only traitor here is you, Cerise.” He clucked his tongue. “Leading that female to where Shakpi was holding her mate captive? You are as good as dead when she wakes.”
The silver-haired woman with the sharp eyes shrugged. “Perhaps. But at least I won’t die a fool. Like you.”
Hiss laughed. He was no fool. Ruthless and without mercy, yes, But not a fool.
“I realized too late that Shakpi was only using me,” Lady Cerise muttered, her fingers closing around the bars of her cage. “She was never going to grant me the power she dangled in front of me daily.”
“See, that’s the difference between us,” Hiss stated evenly. “I’m not looking for power. Only justice.”
Her stoic gaze connected with his. “And this is justice? Allowing a Pantera infant to be killed before it even takes its first breath?”
A painful heat snaked through Hiss’s body. The death of Ashe’s child would cause him no amount of grieving. He knew that. He knew he was about to become a monster. But it was justice. The deep and abiding pain the Pantera had caused him when they’d sacrificed his entire family to keep themselves hidden still bloomed within him. He was without anyone because of the Pantera. His Diplomat parents and his sister had been exposed to the human world, and instead of bringing them home, sheltering them, the Pantera leaders had allowed the three to be taken out, to be killed.
For the good of the Pantera.
He growled low and hateful in his throat. Just as they hadn’t stopped his family’s death, Hiss wouldn’t stop the death of their young ‘savior.’
“You look tired, Cerise,” he said before turning back toward the staircase. “But remember to sleep with one eye open. Shakpi will awaken.”
CHAPTER 3
“I hate this,” Raphael uttered, pacing back and forth in front of the door to the room that housed his beloved mate.
Ashe was still in labor, Isi by her side. The sisters seemed totally connected, supporting and giving power and healing to each other, and Aristide had seen Raphael leave the room several times to give them space.
Aristide eyed the guards who were lined up on either side of the door. With the threat of harm to Ashe and her child, no one was taking any chances.
“She’s doing very well,” Aristide assured him.
“It’s taking so long.”
“It’s her first cub, Raphael. And a Pantera. And we all know better than to rush a Pantera, don’t we?”
The Suit’s eyes lifted. They were tired, but Aristide’s words had granted them a flicker of humor. “I’m just…”
“An anxious father,” Aristide finished.
“Yes. And seeing her in pain…”
“But it’s a beautiful pain. One that gives hope to us all.”
“Nurturer,” Raphael growled half-heartedly.
“Damn right. And better than having to wear one of those silk cat collars.” He grinned. “Or as you Suits call it, a tie.”
Raphael laughed for a moment, then his eyes narrowed a fraction. “Do I hear correctly that we have a human woman in custody? Somewhere in this very medical facility?”
Aristide’s body tensed. “We do.”
“And is she working for our enemies?”
“Parish and the Hunters believe so.”
The Suit’s eyes darkened. “What do you believe, Ari? It was you who found her, wasn’t it? And your judgment has always been top notch.”
Yes, it had. But that was before his puma had set its dark eyes on a secretive Snow White in heels. “She is definitely hiding something, but I don’t think she wishes us ill. She seemed genuinely shocked when she realized the trouble she caused.”
“Then why did she do it? I saw the article online.” Raphael glanced at the guards, then looked back, his voice lowered. “And it’s not one of those bullshit tabloids no one takes seriously. It’s reputable. My spies have told me that the humans are taking it as a call to action.”
“She claims it was satire,” Aristide said.
Raphael sniffed his disbelief and his annoyance. “Well, whatever it was, it’s already made the humans who live in our vicinity, the ones who’ve always wondered about us, start organizing. Search parties, investigations. We can’t have humans raining down on us right now with our enemies closing in, our magic waning, and Ashe in labor.”
Aristide’s nostrils flared as he inhaled sharply. “I know, and I’ll find out the truth.”
“How?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Raphael took a deep breath and let it out. “Well if you don’t, the Hunters will. Any way they can. And they’d better.” His gaze flickered toward the door. “I won’t have a traitor here, Ari.”
Aristide’s puma scratched beneath his skin. It didn’t like this conversation. It didn’t like what the Suit was insinuating. All it wanted was to get to the woman again and be close to her, protect her. Shit, maybe even rub up against her.
Fool cat.
br /> “I’m going back to my Ashe now,” Raphael said with a nervousness that completely contradicted his normally hard-ass demeanor. “Maybe she’ll let me do something. I offered to let her hold my hand when she was having contractions, break the goddamn thing if she wanted to. But she needs her sister…”
“Everything’s going to be fine, brother,” Aristide said with a quick touch to the male’s shoulder. “And soon you’ll be holding your cub.”
The look Raphael gave him before he disappeared inside the room made Aristide’s chest tight. Nothing was going to harm this little family. This new Pantera life. This chance and hope for them all to have a future. Damn, maybe cubs of their own someday. He had to find out what the woman knew, what was coming for them and when.
He moved down the hall with long, purposeful strides. He had a meeting in the labs in ten minutes with two of his pathologist colleagues, but he was going to check on the woman first. Try and get her to talk to him, tell him why she would write such lies about people she didn’t know, or a world she’d only guessed at while working at The Cougar’s Den. But when he opened the door to her room, he didn’t find her alone. The guards who were supposed to be outside her door and window were instead standing over her bed, trying to pin her down.
Aristide’s puma burst to the surface of his skin, causing him to shift in and out of his cat state. Adrenaline rushed through him. He started to pant and his vision went crystal clear.
He launched himself at the bed, growled at the guards. “What the hell is going on here?” he demanded.
Never in his life had he experienced something like this. He was in pure attack mode, and it took everything inside of him to rein in his fitful cat.
One of guards glanced up, his eyes going wide at whatever he saw on Aristide’s face. “She tried to escape.”
“That’s not true!” Katherine cried out, fighting the female who was trying to hold her down. “I just wanted to get up, walk around, go to the goddamn bathroom!”
The male shook his head at Aristide. “She can’t be on the floor, sir, not today. We can’t risk it. We need to strap her down.”